Digital is where marketing investments are going, and that trend shows no signs of changing. The chart below offers some insight into how marketing spend continues its shift away from traditional channels such as print and broadcast television into digital channels.
Given the current uncertainty about the short-term health of the U.S. economy, many organizations are pondering how to invest their marketing dollars over the remainder of the year. Here is our summary of those digital marketing tools and techniques likely to generate the most interest and investment in the near future.
AI Technologies Continue to Advance
Given all the attention focused on ChatGPT of late, you’d think no other AI tech existed – that’s not the case. Although using AI in the form of a chatbot to create content and perform basic research will be refined and more widely applied, other AI functionality might prove more valuable. For example, predictive analytics driven by AI-fueled platforms will help organizations fashion marketing strategies based on enhanced customer segmentation or marketing campaign modeling. There will be new cloud-based applications offering a high level of analytical power and sophistication to small and medium-sized businesses that have up until now been too costly or complex to use.
Multimodal AI platforms like Google’s Multitask Unified Model (MUM) will simultaneously leverage varied technologies that allow for search queries using a range of content including images, text, sounds, and speech across different languages. This will change how organizations use SEO as now such elements as content quality, local search results, and the layout/functionality of the user’s website will affect search results.
AI and machine learning tools applicable to a wide range of marketing planning, decision-making, and monitoring, will continue to emerge and evolve. It behooves all marketing organizations, regardless of size, to stay current on developments in these fields as many of the new tools will be accessible and affordable to firms of all sizes.
The Use of Social Media for Marketing Isn’t Going to Diminish
Social media platforms will continue to offer users the opportunity to complete purchases within the platform itself without having to navigate to another website. Additionally, a significant portion of social media users – somewhere around 25% – use social media to research pending purchases. Social media will continue to be used for brand building, driving traffic to websites, as a vehicle for thought leadership content, disseminating public relations materials, etc. Keep an eye out for change in these social media domains:
Influencer Marketing
Leveraging influencers to drive attention (and hopefully sales) has been a growing trend. When the influencer has both credibility and some relevant connection to the product/service promoted this tactic has been of value to many firms. A recent study predicts that influencer marketing, which was found to be used by 1 in 4 marketers, will continue to be employed because of its high ROI. Not all social media experts agree with this assessment. There is concern that cynicism is growing about the credibility of influencers given that many are paid for their brand promotion. When trust begins to erode, the tactic might not prove effective. This year might bring more clarity to the longevity and value of this tactic.
Brand Building
It will be interesting to see how the investments in brand building around digital marketing play out in 2023. If organizations pull back their investments because of recession fears it will allow those firms that maintain their brand-building efforts because there will be fewer messages to compete against. This will open a window for firms to break through the clutter that might have taken much longer and cost considerably more. How many organizations grab this opportunity and maintain or increase their brand-building activities is impossible to know but those that do might find themselves better positioned as the economy rebounds.
Will TikTok Remain As Hot in the U.S.?
As the graph below illustrates, Tik Tok has enjoyed explosive adoption in the U.S. over the past few years. From 2019 to 2020 the number of users nearly doubled, from 2020 to 2021 the numbers grew another 30%, then from 2021 to 2022 annual growth slowed to 8%.
Number of TikTok Users in the United States from 2019 to 2025 (in millions)
Source: Statista.com
Whether Tik Tok can continue to grow its user base in the U.S. is open to some debate. The security of users’ information is a growing concern. In February a U.S. Department of Justice official warned against using Tik Tok noting that because the platform is owned by a Chinese company, China’s security laws can require their domestic companies to turn over internal information. Many current users might not feel comfortable knowing that the video app might be handing over their information to the Chinese government. There is speculation that Tic Tok might have seen its best days in the U.S.
VR/AR – And Does the Metaverse Finally Gain Traction?
These digital technologies consistently seem to be on the cusp of explosive growth and adoption. The reality is a little unclear. A survey conducted by Deloitte last June found wide variation in the current use of the metaverse. The numbers ranged from a low of 8% for the life sciences/healthcare industries to a high of 28% for the technology/media/telecom sectors. When asked if they were going to engage with the metaverse within the next 24 months, except for the energy/resources/industrial sector (67%), every other industry polled ranged from a low of 80% (life sciences/healthcare) to a high of 92% (technology/media/telecom) that they would. When asked about why they haven’t already embarked on using the metaverse the top reason was the difficulty in developing or implementing the technology – barriers thought to be caused by talent/skill set shortages and insufficient budgets. One sector in which the metaverse is making inroads is the real estate market. A recent article in the New York Times recounts how the value of metaverse real estate is growing – and will continue to grow by over $billion in the next 3 years.
Somewhat similar to the metaverse, AR/VR use by marketing organizations also appears to be a slow-moving landslide. Up until now much of the AR/VR use by industry has been focused either on some aspect of gaming or internal training. Marketing organizations are embracing these technologies by trying to create interactive experiences for event promotions and product demonstrations. Several firms including Nike, Gucci, and McDonalds have created immersive VR environments tied to showcasing their offerings. One limiting factor to AR/VR use appears to be the high price of headsets. With more vendors offering hardware perhaps the necessary equipment will become more affordable and help drive greater adoption. Industry use will likely grow again in 2023 but there are still questions as to whether it will be the “breakout” year for widespread use of AR/VR by corporate marketing organizations.
Continued Growth in the Use of Multiple Digital Channels
As we’ve seen with Tik Tok, Snapchat, BeReal, etc., new digital channels can emerge and quickly generate a large base of users with organizations of all types exploring how to use them to promote their products and services. This isn’t going to change as new generations of users with significant purchasing power continue to search for the next big thing. The one constant for firms looking to speak through these channels is that omni-channel marketing tactics require an integrated and consistent brand experience. Seamless messaging and positive experiences help build and maintain a positive brand position.
Here are some digital channel trends that will continue to be important:
More organizations adopt a mobile-first strategy
Nearly 60% of website traffic originates from mobile devices. If anything, this trend will likely get stronger. This makes mobile web design a high priority
Short Video Stays Strong
Short videos, used for a variety of purposes, are increasingly popular. As new channels emerge many will likely accommodate video. Having concise, creative videos is a viable tactic for even mid-size and smaller organizations.
Email Marketing Remains Popular and Effective
Using email for lead generation, to support product launches, etc. has proven its worth over the years. There has been a resurgence of email newsletters as they’re a cost-effective and invaluable tool for content delivery and thought leadership support.
Content Creation Becomes More Imperative
The proliferation of digital channels creates the need for more quality content for both B2C and B2B firms. The chart below offers insights into the effectiveness of various content types for B2B organizations:
Source: Hubspot and MarketingProfs
Creating enough high-quality content will be challenging for some organizations as the market consumption of content continues to grow.
The Biggest Trend for 2023– Digital Marketing Will Continue to Grow
Whether it is a rejuvenation of a tried-and-true tactic like email newsletters or trying emerging tactics such as metaverse advertising or branded non-fungible tokens – the use of digital marketing will continue to thrive and evolve. Perhaps one of the biggest digital marketing trends of 2023 is the adoption of these tactics by more medium and smaller size organizations. Keeping up with what is going on in the field can be critical to acquiring and/or maintaining a competitive advantage.
